A promoter is a DNA sequence which flanks a structural gene, and to which RNA polymerase must bind if it is to transcribe the flanking structural gene into messenger RNA. One example of a plant promoter is the promoter found flanking the gene for the small subunit ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase in Petunia. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,028. Another example is the promoter which comprises the 5' flanking region of the wheat Em gene. See EPO Appln. No. 335528. Still another example is the stress-inducible regulatory element disclosed in EPO Appln. No. 0 330 479.
Despite their important role in plant development, relatively little work has been done on the regulation of gene expression in roots. In part the deficiency results from a paucity of readily indentifiable, root-specific biochemical functions whose genes may be easily cloned and studied. Evans et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 214, 153-157 (1988), tried unsuccessfully to isolate root-specific cDNA clones from pea, concluding that root-specific mRNA species (if present) are only present at a very low level of abundance in the root mRNA population. Fuller et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80, 2594-2598 (1983), have cloned and characterized a number of root nodule-specific genes. Comparisons of the DNA sequences 5' of the initiation of transcription reveal a repeated octanucleotide present in the three genes examined. Unfortunately, the lack of efficient transformation/regeneration systems for most Leguminaceae has hampered the functional analysis of such cis-acting sequences. Bogusz et al., Nature 331, 178-180 (1988), isolated a haemoglobin gene expressed specifically in roots of non-nodulating plants by its homology with the haemoglobin gene of closely related, nodulating species. Keller and Lamb, Genes & Dev. 3, 1639-1646 (1989), isolated a gene encoding a cell wall hydroxyproline rich glycoprotein expressed during lateral root initiation. Lerner and Raikhel, Plant Physiol. 91, 124-129 (1989), recently reported the cloning and characterization of a barley root-specific lectin.
Imparting useful traits to plants by expressing foreign genes in plants through genetic engineering techniques will require the availability of a variety of tissue-specific promoters so that new traits can be expressed in the appropriate plant tissues. The present invention is based upon our continuing investigations in connection with this problem.